Steve and Hannah Smith

Dear friends,

Bob the Builder, can he fix it? Bob the builder, yes he can! Dr. Bagchi told me today "one of those screws didn't want to come out...", as if he was discussing disassembling a swing set. They got it out, but there was a good deal of drainage (sorry oh squeamish ones), and quite a bit of pain. The recovery unit contemplated admitting Hercules to get the post op pain under control, but he was not going for that. So it took quite a few hours with Vicodin, and then he was ready to go, hungry as a bear but quite tired and still working through the big ouch. Now he is lying on the couch, medicated, iced and well fed, with a big old swollen foot and a shoulder with a bit more rotation.

Turns out the shoulder may have a rotator cuff tear. Dr. B. said that everyone was so focused on Smitty's lower extremities that the shoulder was kind of put on the back burner. So in a couple of weeks he'll go in to get his stitches removed and the office will schedule him for an MRI. Since he's not a major league pitcher, if surgery is required it should fix the problem. Well, let's not put carts before horses, or borrow trouble, or whatever metaphor you can think of. Steve has suffered gracefully through the whole ordeal. One more thing is not surprising. The unexpected is kind of expected.

Thanks for the prayers. Please send some for our dear nurse friend Trish Regan, who is very ill in the hospital. I work with Trish, and she has been a loyal friend over these past months. Not to mention a member of our blog community. I know the Great One will hear us intercede for this precious woman. She's discouraged, and so far they can't really figure out what's wrong with her.

Time for me to go sit with my main squeeze. What a delight to have my best friend here with me. In the hospital today I remember the many hours he "slept", and how I missed him so. But the Great One sent me some wonderful folks to help me through. That would be you...

I love that fellow in there with his too big foot, his weird looking scars, his metal elbow and a sense of humor the size of Texas. Thank God for that. Thank God for that.

Your friend on the pilgrim road,

Loriann